Stochastic security for operations planning with significant wind power generation

Abstract

In their attempt to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, several countries are committed to install wind power generation up to and beyond the 10-20% penetration mark. However, the large-scale integration of wind power represents a challenge for power system operations planning because wind power (i) cannot be dispatched in the classical sense; and, (ii) its output varies as weather conditions change. This warrants the investigation of alternative short-term power system operations planning methods capable of better coping with the nature of wind generation while maintaining or even improving the current reliability and economic performance of power systems. To this end, this paper formulates a short-term forward electricity market-clearing problem with stochastic security capable of accounting for non-dispatchable and variable wind power generation sources. The principal benefit of this stochastic operation planning approach is that, when compared to a deterministic worst-case scenario planning philosophy, it allows greater wind power penetration without sacrificing security.